1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to body armor used in combination with various garments and in other applications to resist penetration by a projectile such as a bullet or other ballistic projectile. More specifically, the invention relates to reinforced soft and hard body armor utilizing a plurality of layers or plies of dissimilar ballistic material in combination with a reinforcing panel positioned inwardly of the multiple plies of ballistic material with the reinforcing panel being constructed of a work hardenable material to reduce penetration of a projectile thereby reducing blunt trauma injury. The multiple plies of ballistic material include a unique arrangement of multiple plies of an aramid fiber such as identified by the trademark "Kevlar" or "TWARON" and multiple plies of a non-woven ballistic material identified by the trademark "Spectra Shield" and the reinforcing panel is a polycarbonate material such as identified by the trademark "Lexan".
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Body armor has been developed for use in association with various garments to protect the wearer from injury or death by bullets or other ballistics missiles striking and penetrating various parts of the human anatomy. Law enforcement personnel employ such garments under various circumstances with the body armor usually protecting vital anatomical areas. The body armor which has been developed includes the use of various ballistic materials including "Kevlar" with typical uses of this material being disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,535,478 and 4,578,821. While such prior art devices have proved effective, it is well known that all soft body armor and to a certain extent rigid body armor allows energy from the impact of a projectile to be transferred through the armor system and injure the underlying body tissue or bone structure of the person wearing the armor. This injury is known as blunt trauma which is the degree of deformation of the armor which occurs when body armor is struck by a projectile. The highest acceptable level of deformation by the body armor industry is currently a deformation of 1.73" and this deformation is measured in the backing material used to simulate flesh or tissue during a ballistic testing procedure.
The above-mentioned patents and the prior art do not disclose body armor that provides an effective reduction in the deformation and a resultant reduction in blunt trauma injury.